1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improved illuminated carrier for articles such as Halloween and other holiday treats.
2. Description of Related Art
Typically, the tradition of trick or treating at Halloween is done at dusk and into the night when the danger to a child not being seen by approaching motor vehicles is greatest. To minimize this danger, the child is often required to carry a flashlight or a battery-powered lantern to warn drivers of motor vehicles of the child's presence. For younger children, this method is cumbersome, as the child is required to carry both a container for carrying the collected treats and a flashlight or lantern and the degree of safety for the child is thereby diminished. Additionally, novel carriers are generally sought by children and their parents, especially those that provide safety features, such as illumination. The costs associated with the assembly of such carriers, however, is high, therefore lower assembly costs are desirable. Additionally, bulk shipping and warehousing costs per unit of the finished carrier is generally substantial due to the prior art carriers being of a fanciful or other such shape which cannot be nested or stacked within each other.
While various treat-carrying jack-o-lanterns and the like have been developed in the past to overcome the shortcomings of carrying both a flashlight or battery-powered lantern and a trick or treat bag or container, their commercial success has been limited.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,698,732 and 4,714,985, for example, describe carriers for treats and other articles which have either a single or double bottom and which employ a flashlight insert. Further, in both inventions, the light beam is directed downward, thereby providing minimal illumination to motorists.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,071 describes a lantern candy carrier which employs a battery-powered light source. Because of its fanciful shape, it is not nestable or stackable thereby increasing transporting and warehousing costs.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,296 describes another attempt to provide a battery powered, illuminated carrying bag for transporting articles. While the bag provides some of the economies present in the present invention, it does not provide the omni-directional illumination needed for child safety. Instead, the light only shines through the transparent portion of the front sidewall.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,597,230 describes an ornamental carrier with flashlight-type eyes. This lighting means, like that of the '296 patent above, provides only uni-directional lighting and fails to provide adequate warning of the child's presence to an approaching motor vehicle unless the face of the ornamental carrier is pointed toward the motor vehicle. Additionally, the shape of the carrier does not allow for economical transporting or warehousing.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,200,000 describes an improved illuminated carrier which overcomes many of the shortcomings of the other prior art carriers, but lacks nestability and stackability which increases the costs of transporting and warehousing.
Although these prior art treat carriers provide children with varying degrees of safety at night, as well as novelty, the costs of assembly, transportation and warehousing of the finished articles are generally too high. The need for an easily assembled and stackable, less expensive carrier is evident. The present invention overcomes the assembly, transportation and warehousing shortcomings of the prior art carriers by providing a lower cost, nesting, stackable or collapsible carrier employing readily available, translucent containers with a modified snap ring, tubular split ring, sleeve, or wedge fit inner cover. To permit nesting of the containers, their geometry shall be that of an inverted truncated cone or such other shape which would permit them to be stacked one inside the other during shipment and warehousing. At the distribution or sale site, the covers with their illuminating means can be attached to the container, thus providing the finished product. If collapsible containers are employed, however, nestability is obviated and the article carriers can be transported and warehoused as completely assembled units.